The California Democrat was joined by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and five other Democratic lawmakers along with gun violence victims as they unveiled a bill that would reinstate the assault weapons ban, which went into effect in a 1994 bill but lapsed in 2004.

Obama called on Congress to pass the assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban on Jan. 16, as well as a requirement for universal background checks for gun sales and other measures. Citing the Newtown massacre that occurred last month, the president said that "if there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try."

The White House chose not to draft its own bill, but said it supports Feinstein's effort and has worked with her office in crafting the new version.

Read Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s gun bill here.

Assault Weapons Ban of 2013

Mass shootings in Newtown, Aurora, and Tucson have demonstrated all too clearly the need to regulate military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. These weapons allow a gunman to fire a large number of rounds quickly and without having to reload.

The legislation bans the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of:

 All semiautomatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel.

 All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: threaded barrel; second pistol grip; barrel shroud; capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip; or semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.

 All semiautomatic rifles and handguns that have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

 All semiautomatic shotguns that have a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; pistol grip; fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds; ability to accept a detachable magazine; forward grip; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; or shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

 All ammunition feeding devices (magazines, strips, and drums) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

 157 specifically-named firearms (listed at the end of this document).

The legislation excludes the following weapons from the bill:

 Any weapon that is lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment;

 Any firearm manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action;

 Assault weapons used by military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement; and

 Antique weapons.

The legislation protects hunting and sporting firearms:

 The bill excludes 2,258 legitimate hunting and sporting rifles and shotguns by specific make and model.

The legislation strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and state bans by:

 Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test.

o The bill also makes the ban harder to evade by eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test.

 Banning dangerous aftermarket modifications and workarounds.

o Bump or slide fire stocks, which are modified stocks that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire at rates similar to fully automatic machine guns.

o So-called “bullet buttons” that allow the rapid replacement of ammunition magazines, frequently used as a workaround to prohibitions on detachable magazines.

o Thumbhole stocks, a type of stock that was created as a workaround to avoid prohibitions on pistol grips.

 Adding a ban on the importation of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.

 Eliminating the 10-year sunset that allowed the original federal ban to expire.

The legislation addresses the millions of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines currently in existence by:

 Requiring a background check on all sales or transfers of a grandfathered assault weapon.

o This background check can be run through the FBI or, if a state chooses, initiated with a state agency, as with the existing background check system.

 Prohibiting the sale or transfer of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of the bill.

 Allowing states and localities to use federal Byrne JAG grant funds to conduct a voluntary buy-back program for grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

 Imposing a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms, to keep them away from prohibited persons.

 Requiring that assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after the date of the bill’s enactment be engraved with the serial number and date of manufacture of the weapon

Assault Weapon Bans Have Been Proven to Be Effective

The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was effective at reducing crime and getting these military-style weapons off our streets. Since the ban expired, more than 350 people have been killed and more than 450 injured by these weapons.

 A Justice Department study of the assault weapons ban found that it was responsible for a 6.7% decrease in total gun murders, holding all other factors equal.

hmmm so any semi auto hunting rifle with a muzzle brake that screws on would be ilegalll ???????

am I blind I don't see sks or m1 carbine on there as was previously stated by the nra???

if there not there then she must have redacted this stuff after reading the NRA speal about here proposed law. I heard here met the press interview an originaly tere was no grand fathering in an she was talking any hand gun over 10 rounds.

looks like she is trying to say see the nra is wrong . maybe some one else sees M1 an sks on that list???????????

37% of police departments reported seeing a noticeable increase in criminals’ use of assault weapons since the 1994 federal ban expired.

an 62% did not??????????

what she dosent state is is if gun crime went up or down nationaly during the previous ban.

yes there mght have been less criminals getting there hands on some thing that a honest person cant buy but did crime go down were there less people shot in those years???? did deaths buy hand guns shot guns an regular rifles go up??????

this is like saying prior to 2001 nobody was killed in a 2005 car. they still died in car crashes just they drove a car that was available.

.

Since the ban expired, more than 350 people have been killed and more than 450 injured by these weapons.

ok so there saying out of the multipul thousands of deaths that were caused by people using other types of weapons there going to target weapons that were used in 350 deaths ???? an how many of the were suicides???????????????????????????

HOW MANY SOLDIERS DIED PROTECTING PR CONSTITUTION IN THE LAST 10 YEARS?? AN DURING THE THE BAN???? HOW MANY LIVES WERE SAVED BY THOSE PROTECTING THERE SELVES WITH GUNS????????????????

AN FURTHER MORE HOW MANY LESS OF THOSE 350 WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN KILLED IF THE LAW HAD BEEN IN PLACE THEN?????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????/

MAN THEM ARE SOME REAL SHACKY NUMBERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

YOU KNOW IF THE NUMBERS HAD BEEN MULTIPUL THOUSANDS KILLED IN MASS SHOOTINGS I MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE NEUTRAL ( NO REALLY) BUT WHEN YOUR RESTRICTING MILLIONS AN MILLIONS OF GUN OWNERS RIGHTS BASED ON 250 DEATHS THAT LIKELY WOULD HAVE OCCURED WITH A DIFFERANT WEAPON OR WERE POSSABLY SUICIDEDS ( WE NEED TO FIND OUT IF SUICIDES ARE INCLUDED) AN LIKELY 80% WERE BY CRIMINALS KILLING OTHER CRIMINALS IN DRUG DEALS AN WHAT NOT I FAND ZERO SRESPECT FOR ANY PART OF THIS LAW. IN FACT I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN KILLED ROBBED RAPED ETC BECAUE THEY HAVE SO CALLED ASSULT GUNS. THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW HOW MANY PEOLE DID NOT DIE BECAUE THERE IS NO WAY TO TRACK THAT. HOW MANY TIMES WAS A DOOR ANSWERED WITH A GUN IN HAND AN THINGS ENDED RIGHT THERE ?????????????????????

THE COPS HAVE SHOT MORE PEOLE THAN ASSULT WEAPONS HAVE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS. 350 PEOLE IS ALL SHE CAN FIND TO BASE HERE STATISTICS ON???????????????????????????????????????????????/ OMG

OK READ ALL THIS BS APERANTLY WERE FIENSTIEN GETS HER NUMBSERS STILL CANT FIND HOW MANY WERE SHOT AN HOW MANY ASSULT PISTOLS WERE RECOVERED THEY LOVE TO USE PERCENTAGES. IF THRE GUYS WERE KILELD IN SOUTH DAKOTA WITH A RIFLE THEN THAT WOULD BE 500% INCRESE LIKEY

WHAT WERE THE NUMBERS NOT PERCENTAGES???????? IM OT EVENN SURE A SKS IS CLASSIFESD AON THE GOVERMENT LIST AS A SSULT WEAPON

MY QUESTION DID MURDERS GO UP OR DOWN IN THIS AREA?????????????

PHILADELPHIA, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Five days after an assault rifle took the life of a Philadelphia police officer, Governor Edward G. Rendell today called upon Congress to stand up for law enforcement and renew the expired ban on such weapons. "The firearm used to murder Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was designed for one thing only - the death of a fellow human being," Governor Rendell said of the Chinese-made SKI assault rifle fired at the officer as he responded to a bank robbery Saturday morning. "There was no chance that his body armor could have protected him from the power of this weapon." Recognizing the danger assault weapons posed to law enforcement and the general public, Congress, in 1994, banned the manufacture, transfer or possession of semiautomatic firearms and large capacity ammunition magazines, as well as the import of automatic assault weapons not already banned under law. According to a 1999 National Institute of Justice study, the ban worked:
-- The ban had "clear short-term effects on the gun market," leading to semiautomatic assault weapons becoming "less accessible to criminals."
-- Crime gun traces of assault weapons dropped 20 percent in the year following enactment of the ban. This 20 percent drop was double the overall decline in garden-variety gun murders that year.
-- Murders of police by offenders with assault weapons declined from 16 percent of gun murders of police in 1994 and early 1995 to zero percent in the latter half of 1995 to 1996.
-- During this time period, Boston had a 24 percent decrease in assault weapons recovered in crime, and St. Louis had a 29 percent drop.
-- Maryland, which has a similar state statute, had 55 percent fewer assault pistols used to commit crimes than would have been used had it not passed its ban. Despite the overwhelming support of law enforcement, the ban expired in 2004. Legislation to reinstate it is pending in the U. S. House of Representatives Governor Rendell said each day that passes without a ban puts police officers at greater risk from what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms called "mass produced mayhem." "This issue is quite simple," Governor Rendell said. "Either support law enforcement or you don't. And if you don't, you'll have to tell the widow of the next victim or the young child of the next victim why you didn't vote to protect them," The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit www.governor.state.pa.us. EDITOR'S NOTE: A letter to Congress signed by Governor Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is attached. May 8, 2008 To Members of the Pennsylvania U.S. Congressional and Senatorial Delegation: Last weekend, Philadelphia Police Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski was gunned down in cold blood with a Chinese SKS assault rifle. Sergeant Liczbinski did not have a chance. The murder weapon, like other assault rifles, was designed for one thing only - to injure and kill. Sergeant Liczbinski was shot at such close range that even the normal protective vests would not have stood up to the power of this assault rifle. We are writing to urge you to stand up for our nation's law enforcement officers by reenacting legislation banning the possession, manufacture, use, or importation of assault weapons. Passing such critical officer safety legislation will protect our police from weapons that have no other purpose than to maim and kill them. Failure to enact such legislation puts their lives in jeopardy. As you know, the assault weapons ban expired in September 13, 2004, when Congress failed to reenact it. Although the ban would not have stopped the importation of this particular weapon, this weekend's execution of Sergeant Liczbinski reminds us that our police are outgunned by criminals who have access to these weapons. Why would we allow anyone to possess such a weapon when its only purpose is to kill, especially law enforcement officers. Our law enforcement officers are increasingly targets. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of assaults of law enforcement officers with firearms in Pennsylvania has increased by 83 percent. This is a nationwide problem. For example, Miami Police Commissioner John Timoney has said that 15 of its 79 homicides in 2006 were committed with assault weapons, and that the streets of South Florida are being flooded with these weapons since the ban expired. And data shows that the now expired ban worked when it was in effect. In 1999, the National Institute of Justice reported that trace requests for assault weapons declined 20 percent in the first calendar year after the ban took effect. In addition, a study by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that, in Maryland, whose state ban on assault pistols took effect in June 1994, the number of assault pistols recovered by Baltimore police in the first six months of 1995 fell by 45 percent from the first six months of 1994. While we all dutifully attend the somber ceremonies commemorating those who have given their lives to protecting us and we say the right things, as we did this week at the Capitol in Harrisburg, the real test of how much we care about protecting our officers is whether we can stand up and do what is right and pass laws that actually protect our police officers from getting shot in the line of duty. That time is here and now, and we urge you to stand up for law enforcement and re-enact federal legislation banning the use, possession, manufacture or importation of assault rifles. Passing this legislation will go a long way to protecting those who put their lives on the line every day for us. There is no excuse to do otherwise. Sincerely,
Edward G. Rendell Michael A. Nutter Governor Mayor Commonwealth of Pennsylvania City of Philadelphia CONTACT: Chuck Ardo 717-783-1116 PR Newswire (Pennsylvania Governor Rendell: Congress Must Renew Assault Weapons Ban -- re> PHILADELPHIA, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --)